Are migrant children coming to Fresno? Here’s the latest on the city’s offer to the feds
Fresno leaders haven’t heard back on an offer they made to the federal government to make the city’s Convention Center available to house unaccompanied migrant children arriving at the U.S.-Mexico border.
The offer has now raised questions about whether the city of Fresno supports it and what it means as the city looks at a potential Convention Center property sale.
The offer was made in an April 20 letter sent to U.S. Department of Homeland Security Secretary Alejandro Mayorkas. The agency overseeing the temporary shelters is the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS).
The letter from Fresno City Council Vice President Nelson Esparza was also signed by Councilmembers Esmeralda Soria and Miguel Arias. Esparza said with help from Fresno Congressman Jim Costa’s office, leaders were also able to send the letter to several legislative aides at HHS.
“It’s been sent to DHS, it’s been sent to HHS. At this point, we haven’t heard anything back,” Esparza said. “We made sure that we got it in front of the right people... The agencies are going to do what they are going to do, but we put our foot forward.”
The city of Fresno’s offer still stands, he said. The offer was not discussed during a City Council meeting before the letter was sent to DHS.
No word from Dyer
Sontaya Rose, Fresno city communications director, said Mayor Jerry Dyer was not going to make a comment at this time when asked if Dyer supported the offer to house migrant children in the city’s Convention Center.
“Our understanding is that the city is still not supporting it,” Maricela Gutierrez, executive director for Services, Immigrant Rights and Education Network (SIREN), said. “It’s just them as councilmembers saying that they welcome it if it were to happen.”
Esparza said in late April that if the federal government accepted the offer, he would be able to pull together the votes.
On Thursday, Esparza said the city’s administration is aware of the letter, and he didn’t believe it had taken a position, which he didn’t see as a problem, given the “conversation has not progressed at this point.”
The letter was to get the dialogue started with the federal government, he said. Plus, the city, he said, technically has no position, given that nothing has been voted on by the City Council.
“But a position taken by three influential members of the council is nothing to sneeze at,” he said. “That should be an indication of which way the city ultimately leans.”
Bredefeld opposes plan
Councilmember Garry Bredefeld, who is usually against immigration-related measures, said Fresno is not fit to house migrant children “who have entered the country illegally and possibly have COVID.”
“We don’t have suitable facilities to house them and most importantly, they need to be reunited with their parents at the border and then return back to their country of origin,” he said Tuesday.
Bredefeld said he doesn’t support President Biden’s “reckless and dangerous policy of open borders.” However, experts say Title 42, a Trump-era policy that’s still in place is what’s fueling the increase of children at the U.S. -Mexico border.
Offer ‘not intended to interfere with a potential sale’
Dyer’s office also wouldn’t comment on the possible sale of a Convention Center property.
In December, Dyer confirmed he had been in talks with team ownership connected to the Fuego brand of soccer. That was after the Fresno Convention Center drew interest from the professional soccer organization for repurposing Selland Arena.
Esparza said the offer made to the federal government is a short-term solution to help the Biden administration with its efforts to “safely and humanely house the children while they work to reunite them with their families.” Therefore, he said, it’s “not intended to interfere with a potential sale.”
For example, he said, government contracts with convention centers in the cities of Long Beach and San Diego are set to expire in the summer around July or August. The city of Long Beach’s Convention Center began receiving unaccompanied children in late April. The San Diego’s Convention Center and Pomona’s Fairplex are also being used as temporary shelters to house migrant children. Dozens of children at the sites in Long Beach and Pomona are being treated for COVID-19.
“The timeline of any potential sale of the convention center would be a major factor in the final decision of whether to partner with the federal government,” Esparza said.
Limited legal services in Fresno to house migrant children
As of Tuesday, there were 20,669 unaccompanied children under the care of HHS, and 559 were discharged, according to the agency’s daily statistics. A total of 281 children were apprehended and placed in the custody of U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP), but that number doesn’t include children from Mexico as most of them are repatriated.
A total of 455 minors were under the custody of CBP. Another 441 children were transferred out of custody from CBP, according to the statistics.
Gutierrez, with SIREN, said her organization helped shut down a proposed shelter at the Moffett NASA field in March, and is currently opposing one at Camp Roberts.
Gutierrez said she also wonders why elected officials are not calling for an end to Title 42.
She said it’s mainly Latino leaders who are behind the offers to house migrant children in their jurisdictions.
If the federal government responds to Fresno’s offer, she said, officials need to make sure what type of shelter it would be. An emergency shelter offers short-term housing for the migrant children, and the local jurisdictions, as well as nonprofits, can be involved in providing services to the children.
An influx shelter, she said, is run by private companies and can exist for an undetermined period of time.
When officials say they welcome the children, Gutierrez said, they should ask themselves what services are in place.
“We know that there’s limited legal providers in Fresno County — when you think of LA or big cities where there’s way more services available, especially in relation to immigration — what services are available in the county that would be able to step up and support the children?” she asked.
Gutierrez said the limitation on immigration legal services in Fresno County, and throughout the Central Valley, is very clear.
“We know because we are a legal provider ourselves, and we get a high number of referrals,” she said. “More than we can actually handle, and there’s limited people we can refer to.”
For children seeking asylum that could prove problematic, she said. They have to process their applications in a short period of time.
“They’ll be stuck in a bottleneck because there’s not enough legal providers to support the amount of children in need,” she said.
There are “great concerns” about several other services that are needed to ensure the children are well-taken care of, and prevent abuses, but there are several unknowns, Gutierrez said.
“Who’s going to take care of the children? What oversight is going to happen? Are child advocates going to be there?” she asked.
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